The photos thread

Trevor Morley's Tache said:
You can get lucky in burst mode, but that shot is taken as a long exposure on a tripod. The main giveaway are the multiple strikes, but you can also see the star burst around the lights as a result of a narrow aperture used to increase the exposure time.

I shoot mine at between f16 to f22 and ISO400 to 800, basically aiming for a 25-30 second exposure. I shoot in aperture priority mode and manual focus, focussing at about 2/3rds into the scene, which is often difficult in low light. Sometimes I'll get caught out without a tripod, and I'll stick it in burst mode, and very occasionally I'll get lucky.

View attachment 160058
(1/30th at f5.6, ISO4000 in burst mode, hand held)

View attachment 160059
(25s at f22, ISO640 tripod mounted)
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Those are admirable. I really need to join a camera club or something. Or at least read some of the press. I am basically a neophyte moron, who always took really poor photos. When I did my round the world trip eight years ago, I bought myself a Lumix. I just set it on iA and let it do the thinking for me! I know, moronic. And lazy. But actually it came up with some good results… I really need to take the plunge and start doing manual stuff, because I suspect the possibilities are endless, and I've only scratched the surface of what that camera can do…
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Those are admirable. I really need to join a camera club or something. Or at least read some of the press. I am basically a neophyte moron, who always took really poor photos. When I did my round the world trip eight years ago, I bought myself a Lumix. I just set it on iA and let it do the thinking for me! I know, moronic. And lazy. But actually it came up with some good results… I really need to take the plunge and start doing manual stuff, because I suspect the possibilities are endless, and I've only scratched the surface of what that camera can do…
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I very rarely shoot in manual. I've got over 10,000 images on my current drive, and I recon less than 100 of them are in full manual mode. Unless you are using a separate light meter it is your camera deciding what the exposure value should be, whether you are in full auto or full manual mode.

Modern cameras can do a fairly decent job in auto, but the can get it wrong, and one of the biggest areas it often gets wrong is not knowing precisely what to focus on. For improving your everyday photography I would probably just concentrate more on composition and focal point rather than exposure. You decide what's in the shot, you decide when to take the shot and you decide what's in focus. Just let the camera work out everything else.

Try sticking your camera in aperture priority mode, set to f6.3 or f8, with auto ISO and single point auto focus. That way you can put the focus point over your subject, half press the shutter and then recompose before fully pressing the shutter and not have to worry too much about anything else. If you know how to move your focal point around in camera, even better. You might get the odd blurry shot with fast moving subjects, but you can switch over to shutter priority mode and play about with the shutter speed instead if you need to.
 
Trevor Morley's Tache said:
Thanks.

I very rarely shoot in manual. I've got over 10,000 images on my current drive, and I recon less than 100 of them are in full manual mode. Unless you are using a separate light meter it is your camera deciding what the exposure value should be, whether you are in full auto or full manual mode.

Modern cameras can do a fairly decent job in auto, but the can get it wrong, and one of the biggest areas it often gets wrong is not knowing precisely what to focus on. For improving your everyday photography I would probably just concentrate more on composition and focal point rather than exposure. You decide what's in the shot, you decide when to take the shot and you decide what's in focus. Just let the camera work out everything else.

Try sticking your camera in aperture priority mode, set to f6.3 or f8, with auto ISO and single point auto focus. That way you can put the focus point over your subject, half press the shutter and then recompose before fully pressing the shutter and not have to worry too much about anything else. If you know how to move your focal point around in camera, even better. You might get the odd blurry shot with fast moving subjects, but you can switch over to shutter priority mode and play about with the shutter speed instead if you need to.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I'll try mucking around with that stuff, and see what happens.
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Thanks for that. I'll try mucking around with that stuff, and see what happens.
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No worries.

The biggest issue with people being told by 'experts' that beginners need to learn full manual mode is that they end up so focussed on getting the exposure correct that they screw up the focus or get the framing all wrong. People end up getting frustrated with a stack of images that are well exposed but not in focus poorly composed.

If you are really interested in improving your photography, there are plenty of free online videos you can watch, or even online courses that cost as little as £25. Udemy is pretty good if you wanted to go down that route. They often have discount rate courses.


 
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